Thursday, June 18, 2009

Facial augmentation using your own fat has been a longstanding, successful technique. Dr. Maloney has been performing this technique since 1986, and Dr. Agarwal has been performing fat transfer since 2004. They have noted not only a volumizing effect which restores youthful facial fullness, but also improvements in their patients’ overlying skin texture and quality (i.e. smaller pores, less wrinkles, etc..).

Recently, research has shown that there are millions of stem cells in fat cells, which are being transferred to the aging face during facial fat injections. These injected stem cells are then thought to rejuvenate the facial tissues. This technique can be done in the office or with IV sedation. Future tissue engineering research will improve the current fat injection techniques by refining the process of separating stem cells out from the surrounding fat cells, and adding markers to help the stem cells differentiate into the desired tissue types.

If you have any questions, or would like to schedule an appointment to meet with Dr. Maloney or Dr. Agarwal at The Aesthetic Surgery Center in Naples, Florida, please call 239-594-9100 or visit our website, The Aesthetic Surgery Center.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Liposuction, one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures, has changed considerably over the past several years. Today, there are at least three different liposuction techniques in use:

Traditional Tumescent techniques rely on the injection of a hemostatic and anesthetic solution in the fat tissue, in order to decrease blood loss, and to speed recovery.

Ultrasonic liposuction relies on an ultrasonic probe, which literally melts the fats tissue prior to its removal with very thin instruments through tiny hidden incisions.

Laser Liposuction has been over-hyped and has not lived up to the expectations. The use of laser liposuction, in several well controlled studies, has proven inferior to both traditional and ultrasonic liposuction and has an increased incidence of skin burns and deep scars. At a recent national plastic surgery meeting in Miami, all of the plastic surgeons who had tried Laser Liposuction had quickly abandoned it in favor of the ultrasonic technique.

Ultrasonic Liposuction remains the gold standard for this procedure, while traditional liposuction remains a very acceptable, time proven technique in the hands of trained plastic surgeons.

Anurag Agarwal, M.D., F.A.C.S.

I grew up in Washington, D.C., and I love the Washington Redskins. I gradually worked my way south to sunny Naples, Florida, and I love to spend time with my beautiful daughter. One of my passions is strenuous hiking and some mountain climbing.